The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-05-29
NOT GIVEN OVER TO MAMMoN.
A City Where the Dollar is the Sole
Standard of Valun.


New YORK, May 2s.-New York has the
reputation of being city in which the dol
lar is the sole standard of value, in which
whoever cannot give evidence of wealth
cannot hope to enjoy social pleasures. The
people of other cities have a belief that it is
of no use to live in New York and hope to
enjoy ones self without an almost unlimit-
cd income. and the New Yorker himself very
often, especially if his ambitions outreach
his means, growls about the cold-hearted-
ness and holowness and -lovingness
of the city, declares that it Is given over to
the worship of money and cares for nothing
but OstentatiOus show.
But it is a reputation which New York
does not deserve-at least no more than any
other large city Mammon worship is one
of the primary emotions of the human
breast anyway. and more or less of it is
pretty sure to be found wherever men and
money are gathered together. But average
the matter among the million and more peo-
pie of New York city, and they won't be
found any worse than the ordinary run of
humanity This is one of the things that
everybody has believed because it went, par
rot-like, from mouth to mouth and gained
credibility with every repetition. People
have accepted it as true simply because they
will believe anything that is repeated often
enough, and will unthinkingly go on repeat
| ing it themselves, although their own expe-
rience has proven its untruth.
What is true of other cities is also true of
New York, namely That it has its exclu-
slvely fashionable sets, each with its own
| peculiar requirements for admission, into
| which money sometimes can and sometimes
can't buy entrance: that it does contain a
| social circle in which ostentation, snobbism
and money worship reign supreme and in
which nothing counts but the dollar; and
| also that these circles form q very, very
small part of the city, which has a large
proportion of people of sense, of brains and
manners, who are glad to welcome any one
| of intrinsic value, whether of head or heart,
| and who care nothing for his purse or his
clothes. Indeed, there is larger proper
| ton Of these people; they are more interest
| ing as friends or acquaintance; they are
| quicker of sympathy and more open of hos
! pitality, and they are more widely scattered
| through all classes of society than in any
other city known to the writer
There are in New York quantities and guam
titles OF bright, interesting, cultivated peo-
| pie acquaintance with whom is a constant
source of pleasure, who care not snap of a
| finger about the worldly possessions of their
| friends. IL you are person of usual intel
| ligence and manners and some originality,
and possess, also, common honesty; in short,
if you are worth knowing, you will be re-
ceived cordially in any one of the number
| less circles formed by these people, and no
body will pay any attention to your clothes
| or care where You live.
Here are some incidents which will prove
the truth of these statements.
At the weekly reception of one of the best
known women in New York, whose evening
at home has come to be as near salon as
| any III the city, there is often to be seen
| lady in the shabbiest of street costumes. In
! this and in number of other well-known
| parlors there is a democratic latitude in COS
| tune that would never be tolerated in q par
lor OF equal prominence in any European
| city. Here elaborate evening toilets, sober
| looking utility dresses, dark street costumes
with bonnet and gloves mix and mingle in
complacent disregard of themselves and one
another The lady in question wore on one
| occasion black dress, bonnet and gloves, all of
which had long passed their best days She
was well known to most of the people there
and was one of the most prominent figures
of the evening. At the weekly reception Of
another lady, less well known, but in whose
parlors are to be met many people famous
in literature and art, the other evening,
| there was young lady who apparently en-
| joyed herself and the conversation of the
changing circle about her to the greatest
extent, although her dark dress was badly
worn, and an obServant person passing be-
hind her saw a well-developed hole in her
elbow. But notwithstanding these shock
ing facts the hostess was particularly warm
in her invitation to the young lady to come
again. These parlors are not in Bohemia,
nor are they or their guests exceptional.
| They are the parlors of wcll-to-do people
who pay the usual regard TO the conven-
tionalities of society, and their guests are
only few of the thousands of people in
New York who are worth knowing and easy
to know. CATHERINE HAWKINS.